TORONTO  — Michael Eyssimont had a goal and an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Thursday night to force Game 6 in their first-round playoff series.

Anthony Cirelli also had a goal and an assist, Nicholas Paul and Alex Killorn, into an empty net, also scored for Tampa. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, which got 34 stops from Ilya Samsonov. John Tavares had two assists.

The Leafs still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2.

Game 6 goes Saturday in Tampa. Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday back at Scotiabank Arena.

Toronto, which has failed to advance in the postseason since 2004 and was eliminated by the Lightning in seven games in last spring’s first round, is 0-10 since 2018 with a chance to eliminate a post-season opponent.

DEVILS 4, RANGERS 0: Erik Haula had two goals and an assist, Akira Schmid stopped 23 shots, and New Jersey beat visiting New York to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.

Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist, and Ondrej Palat also scored to help New Jersey move one win away from advancing with their third straight win after losing the first two games at home. It was the first win by a home team in the series.

Schmid had eight saves in the first period, 13 in the second and two in the third for his first career postseason shutout while making his third straight start. He has stopped 80 of 82 shots he’s faced after Vitek Vanecek gave up nine goals on 52 shots in the first two games.

Igor Shesterkin finished with 39 saves for the Rangers, who have been outscored 9-2 over the last three games after a pair of 5-1 wins to open the series.
Game 6 is Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

NOTES

JETS: Forward Morgan Barron went back to his regular visor Thursday night after using a full cage on his helmet for most of Winnipeg’s first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Barron needed more than 75 stitches after he was cut in the face by Vegas goaltender Laurent Brossoit’s skate blade during a goalmouth scramble in Game 1.

The skate was briefly jammed between Barron’s half-visor and the side of his head.

“It feels good, it’s coming along,” Barron said Thursday after a morning practice at T-Mobile Arena. “No real pain with it or anything. I’m just dealing with the scar.”

Winnipeg entered play needing a road victory in Game 5 to send the series back to Canada Life Centre for a Game 6 on Saturday. If necessary, a seventh and deciding game would be played Monday in Las Vegas.

Vertical stitches, that ran from the top of Barron’s forehead to beside his right eye, have been removed. Swelling in the area has improved but there is still noticeable bruising and some redness in the eye.

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